It’s a grim tale for Fulham but Jack Grimmer remains optimistic

Fulham's disappointment at bowing out of the FA Cup should be tempered by the fact they stood toe to toe with a Premier League side.

They were not at their best but only a freak own goal and a piece of individual brilliance from an Argentina international who played at the World Cup denied them an upset, before a late penalty secured Sunderland’s place in the fifth round. Although Kit Symons had some regret that Fulham had “too many off nights”, he will take encouragement from the way his young side performed against top-flight opposition.

“I doubt if any of them are shaving apart from McCormack and Rodallega,” observed one home fan before kick-off and a starting XI with an average age of just over 23 more than held their own against top-flight opponents.

“We have shown that the gap is not as big as people thought,” said defender Jack Grimmer, 21. “After the first game, we were quietly confident of taking them back to Craven Cottage and getting a result. Over the two games we held our own and the team can only get better. That is the positive thing.”

Fulham led until the 61st minute, when goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli fumbled an innocuous cross from Patrick van Aanholt into his own net.

Symons acknowledged that goals are “generally defining moments in games” and the equaliser gave Sunderland the initiative. Ricardo Alvarez then scored his first goal since joining on loan from Inter Milan and Jordi Gomez netted a late penalty for the visitors, whose reward is a trip to Cup giantkillers Bradford in the next round.

For Fulham, this was a reminder of the fixtures that can be relished if they get themselves out of the Championship. But promotion is unlikely this season — they are 15th — although the club are moving in the right direction under Symons.

Meanwhile, Bryan Ruiz’s loan move to Levante is yet to be completed. Paperwork to register Ruiz with Levante was filed close to Friday’s transfer deadline in Spain and Fulham are waiting for confirmation from FIFA that the deal was completed in time.